Tocsin On Mount Exile

New arrivals from Tibet speak only Tibetan, tend to be aggressive and violent

Tibetan affluence, thanks to donations from the West, causes resentment among locals

With Dharamsala becoming a tourism hub, Indian businesses compete with Tibetan ones

Tibetans claim credit for Dharamsala’s development; Indians say this is their land

New arrivals allege that Indians charge exorbitant rents

***

It has been over 50 years since a band of Tibetans, led by the Dalai Lama, fled China and made India their home. From selling woollens on the pavements as impoverished destitutes to attracting the epithet of “the world’s richest refugees”, the now one-lakh-strong Tibetan community in India has come a long way. And yet, while watching the Dalai Lama felicitate Himachali politicians at a ‘thank you’ function organised in May by the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Government in Exile (TGIE) to mark its 50 years in India, one of its seniormost MPs, Dawa Tsering, was pained to see “the Dalai Lama bowing like a supplicant in front of mere chief ministers”. Later, he told Outlook revealingly, “Everyone must understand that just because we’re here as refugees, you cannot take advantage of us.”

Tsering’s remark all but sums up the ire and ferment within the Tibetan community in India today as it battles new prejudices, chafes at what it perceives as “second-class” refugee status and ruffles host communities in unexpected ways. In a development unimaginable even a decade ago, a large number of Tibetans now want Indian citizenship in a quest for greater legitimacy; and some seek a bigger political role for the community in India. Meanwhile, a new kind of low-intensity conflict between Tibetans and locals is evident in and around Dharamsala, home not only to the TGIE, but also to several grand new monasteries, Tibetan institutions, schools and hundreds of Tibetan tenants living in villages around the town of McLeod Ganj.

Situated in the foothills of the majestic Dhauladhar, this hill station has, in the last 50 years, grown from a sleepy, innocuous town to a bustling tourist destination. The draw: the Dalai Lama, the exotica of Tibetan Buddhism, the promise of spiritual nirvana for the footloose foreigner, and gorgeous weather to boot. Add to that the Tibetans’ formidable success in selling their cause to the West, which brings hundreds of western volunteers, donors, sponsors and celebrities here every year.

“New arrivals think everything here is government land, as in China. We suffer them as we need the money.”

And that is where the problem lies. Most Tibetans here feel that since they are the reason why Dharamsala has developed into a tourism destination—tourism picked up here in the 1990s after the Dalai Lama won the Nobel for peace—they have rights over businesses here. They also feel that the local Himachalis should be grateful to them for putting the place on the map. Tsering Phuntsok, the Tibetan settlement officer tasked with keeping harmony in Tibetan settlements, says, “We have frequent problems with the taxi union here. They should realise that most of their business comes because of our presence, and the least they can do is not clutter up the roads and make life difficult for us.”

It is the kind of sentiment that makes local Himachalis see red. It does not help either, that the average Tibetan in Dharamsala, flush with foreign aid, is today well dressed, and has plenty of money to spend. As Onkar Nehria, president, Hotels Association of Dharamsala, puts it, “When the Tibetans came here 50 years ago, they were humble and hard-working and used to work in my family’s stone quarries. Today, when foreign tourists come to Dharamsala, Tibetans tell them to stay away from Indian hotels and taxis. They’ve become self-sufficient on foreign aid and do not need us any more.”

Pointing to his scars (the result of a clash between cabbies and some monks two years ago), taxi driver Kartar Singh complains, “The first thing they do after we clash is to boycott our taxis and autos. Some weeks ago, we found pamphlets being distributed to foreigners warning them against taking Indian taxis.” And in a statement that encapsulates local resentment, he fumes: “To think that they have acquired all this on our land and are now trying to browbeat us.”

Rent rage Jagdish Singh and his wife let out rooms to Tibetans

The unease is equally apparent in the surrounding villages, where hundreds of Tibetans, many fresh from Tibet, live in rented accommodation. Violent clashes here are common, mainly because the conservative Himachalis do not like what they term the “loose morals” and “noisy behaviour” of the new migrants. For their part, the migrants complain about the exorbitant rents charged by the locals. Like most of his neighbours, Jagdish, a former armyman who lives in Dasandli village, makes several thousands a month by letting out most rooms in his house to Tibetan tenants. A couple of years ago, he was badly injured when newly-arrived Tibetan youth attacked him after they were stopped from using his neighbour’s toilet. “The new arrivals are weird,” he says. “Most have weapons like knives or scissors. They can’t communicate with us and think everything here is government property, like in a communist country. We need the money, so we tolerate them.”

In recent years, most of the Tibetans who came here in the 1960s have either died or migrated to the West. Their places have been filled by primarily Tibetan-speaking youth, newly escaped from China and accepted as refugees by the Indian government. Acknowledging that the behaviour of these new arrivals is a problem, the TGIE tries to deal with it at a Tibetan Transit School (TTS) on the outskirts of Dharamsala. Bhuntuk Shastri, the director of the sprawling TTS, built entirely with contributions from the European Union, says, “We keep them here for five years and give them basic education. We do not teach them Hindi, because the ultimate aim is that they should go back to Tibet and educate our people there. Unfortunately, only 10 per cent of them return. The rest assimilate into various settlements or migrate to the West.”

Acclimatisation drive Newly-arrived Tibetans at the Tibetan Transit School on the outskirts of Dharamsala

Another source of conflict is that many more Indian businesses have sprung up to share McLeod Ganj’s tourism pie. Prem Sagar, secretary of the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Association, an umbrella organisation of Tibetan and Indian bodies, says, “In the initial years, Tibetans dominated business in McLeod Ganj. But with the tourism boom of the 1990s, that changed.” Of the 300-odd shops in McLeod Ganj, he says, two-thirds now belong to Indians; the curio business is passing from Tibetan to Kashmiri control, and most hotel owners are now Indians. After a particularly violent clash in 2007, in which a mob of Indians beat up scores of Tibetans in McLeod Ganj, a Centre for Conflict Resolution, set up by the Tibetan community in 2001, began actively working with the Indian community in Dharamsala to minimise conflicts. Sonam Wangchuk, a trainer at the centre, says, “Our aim is to limit any incident to the individuals concerned and prevent it from acquiring community overtones.”

As the differences have grown, there has been an escalation of demand from within the Tibetan community for Indian citizenship. Many have begun to see India as a permanent home, and feel that if their “second-class” refugee status were to be replaced by full-fledged citizenship, they would not be targeted as much. Dawa Tsering, one of the most vocal supporters of this demand, says, “Many more Tibetans, including many MPs, feel that full citizenship will enable us to participate politically and stand for elections.” He candidly adds, “Even if Tibet were to become free tomorrow, I am not sure if all of us here in Dharamsala would want to go back. Many would stay back.”

TGIE does not endorse blanket Indian citizenship for Tibetans, for the unstated reason that it would undermine the cause of a free Tibet, but many Tibetans have taken it on their own; many are also citizens of the Western countries they now live in. Faced with this situation, TGIE has set up a committee to examine the possibility of a “dual citizenship” of sorts for those who have taken Indian or other passports—that is, they can still be Tibetan “citizens-in-exile”.

Not everyone wants to be an Indian citizen. A section of the Tibetan intelligentsia, led by MP Dolma Gyari, believes that refugee status provides Tibetans with a win-win situation. “While many Indians are dying of malnutrition and hunger, our Tibetan community is very well-looked-after, thanks to substantial foreign aid. Once we become Indian citizens, we will lose much of that aid, and will have to fend for ourselves,” says she. Clearly, as it enters middle age, the Tibetan community in exile is facing both new external challenges and an existentialist crisis from within.

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For your kind information Mr. Arvind Sharma, every Indian shops and taxi's are keeping Dalai Lama's pictures not because they believe in him or they worship him. It's just for some other reason and everyone know's about it. If you think that "Thank You India" was just a drama than it's your thinking. We have so many Indian friends who does not have a negative thinking like you.
When you have mentioned that we Tibetan are not keeping pictures of Hindu god and not going to Hindu temples, i felt like laughing. As far as i know i have visited so many Hindu temples but keeping pictures of Hindu gods is not a point at all. When we are not worshiping Hindu gods then what is the point in keeping their picture. It would be just like a false thing to do and we don't use Picture of Gods to make business. By the way when His Holiness says about teaching he does not only says about Buddhism, but he teach everyone on a world peace at large. That's why we have so many people from rest of the world just to listen to his teachings. That is the reason he often says locals are not coming to his teaching otherwise why would he call a Hindu follower to do Buddhist teaching. Please think reasonably and wisely before you write anything.
Free Tibet and I would still say Thank you India from the bottom of my heart.

Dogra Ji
what i believe you have shown a clear picture of Indo-tibetan relation but still there is lot to disclose about the hidden fire of both communities.
"Thank you India" is just a drama to be in the Internationl media,i don't think they are ever thankful to India.
I have seen pictures of Dalali lama in every second shop or taxi but any one can tell me if any tibetan has photo of any hindu God.Dalai lama stated that no locals are coming in his teaching,can he please tell how many tibetans are visiting in to our hindu temples??

Phyul web page has even abused India & Indians when there was a troubble with local taxi drivers & Tibetans.

It pains me to read biased articles by occasional visitors to Dharamsala, who despite of their professional ethics and grounds often fail to see the underlying facts that we, the fresh arrivals are often bullied for our inefficiency in communication due to the language barrier. Isn't it unreasonable to blame just us for the failure in communication? The local Indians have lived with Tibetans for 50 years. But, how many of them have ever tried to say some words in Tibetan? Doesn't it take Two to Tango? Why didn't you try to find some scars on Tibetans? Why didn't you interview the victims of child molestations? Is it your intension to create yet another internal chaos to witness a fresh vandalism while the rest of us are trying to bridge the gap to live in peace and understanding?

Lets Work and Be a part of Builder of Peace and Harmony then a finder of trouble and problems... Problems and Trouble will not going to stop but we need to minimize it with our understanding and building a better world of peace and harmony!

A Better version - Life On Mount Exile
It has been over 50 years since a band of Tibetans, led by the Dalai Lama, fled after Communist Chinese occupation of their land and made India their second home. From selling woollens on the pavements as impoverished destitutes to attracting the epithet of the world’s successful refugees, the now one-lakh-strong Tibetan community in India has come a long way. And yet, while watching the Dalai Lama felicitate Himachali politicians at a ‘thank you’ function organised in May by the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Government in Exile (TGIE) to mark its 50 years in India, one of its seniormost MPs, Dawa Tsering, out of his personal thought and believes felt that the Dalai Lama bowing like a supplicant in front of mere chief ministers. Later, he told Outlook revealingly, Everyone must understand that just because we’re here as refugees, you cannot take advantage of us. All this is his own thought but he does have many more positive thoughts and respect towards chief minister and Indian whom he is always indebt of their generosity and support.
Tsering’s remark all but sums up the ire and ferment within the Tibetan community in India today as it battles new prejudices, chafes at what it perceives as second-class refugee status and ruffles host communities in unexpected ways. In a development unimaginable even a decade ago, a large number of Tibetans now wish Indian citizenship in a quest for greater legitimacy; and some seek a bigger political role for the community in India since some feel hopeless of their going back to Tibet still majority of the Tibetan have full hope of returning back soon. Meanwhile, a new kind of low-intensity conflict and a growing good understanding between Tibetans and locals is evident in and around Dharamsala, home not only to the TGIE, but also to several grand new monasteries, Tibetan institutions, schools and hundreds of Tibetan tenants living in villages around the town of McLeod Ganj.
Situated in the foothills of the majestic Dhauladhar, this hill station has, in the last 50 years, grown from a sleepy, innocuous town to a bustling tourist destination. The draw: the Dalai Lama, the exotica of Tibetan Buddhism, the promise of spiritual nirvana for the footloose foreigner, and gorgeous weather to boot. Add to that the Tibetans’ formidable success in proofing their cause to the West, which brings hundreds of western volunteers, donors, sponsors and celebrities here every year who eagerly support for their freedom struggle in many ways.

New arrivals think everything here is government land, as in China. We help them as we need the change.

And that is where the solution lies. Most Tibetans here feel that since with their struggle, it is contributing one part of the reason why Dharamsala has developed into a tourism destination-tourism picked up here in the 1990s after the Dalai Lama won the Nobel for peace-they have rights over businesses here. They also feel that the local Himachalis should be happy as Tibetan themselves are seeing Dharamsala on the map. Tsering Phuntsok, the Tibetan settlement officer tasked with keeping harmony in Tibetan settlements, says, We have frequent problems with the taxi union here. But it has improved very well and such kind of problem is there in every part of any country.
It is the kind of sentiment that makes local Himachalis see happy with the progress of understanding and also that the average Tibetan in Dharamsala, with foreign aids and their own struggle for a better living standard, is today well dressed, and has plenty of reason to smile. As Onkar Nehria, president, Hotels Association of Dharamsala, puts it, When the Tibetans came here 50 years ago, they were humble and hard-working and used to work in my family’s stone quarries. Today, when foreign tourists come to Dharamsala, very few of the Tibetan tell them to stay away from Indian hotels and taxis. They’ve become self-sufficient on foreign aid and their own hardwork.
The new arrivals are sometimes weird, he says. Some of them keep knives. They can’t communicate with us due language problem and think everything here is government property, like in a communist country. But, they get better as years passes by and after all, all seek comfort and happiness.
In recent years, some of the Tibetans who came here in the 1960s have either died or migrated to the West. Their places have been filled by primarily Tibetan-speaking youth, newly escaped from China and accepted as refugees by the Indian government. Acknowledging the need of some basic vocational training and adjusting to the new environment properly, the TGIE offers them learning and studying in a Tibetan Transit School (TTS) on the outskirts of Dharamsala. Bhuntuk Shastri, the director of the sprawling TTS, built entirely with contributions from the European Union, says, We keep them here for five years and give them basic education. We do not teach them Hindi, because the ultimate aim is that they should go back to Tibet and educate our people there. Unfortunately, only 10 per cent of them return. The rest assimilate into various settlements or migrate to the West because it is really difficult to go back to Tibet and to live a normal life.
Another source of progress is that many more Indian businesses have sprung up to share McLeod Ganj’s tourism pie. Prem Sagar, secretary of the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Association, an umbrella organisation of Tibetan and Indian bodies, says, In the initial years, Tibetans started small businesses in McLeod Ganj. But with the tourism boom of the 1990s, that changed. Of the 300-odd shops in McLeod Ganj, he says, two-thirds now belong to Indians; the curio business is passing from Tibetan to Kashmiri control, and most hotel owners are now Indians. After an unfortunate violent clash in 2007 due to hand of external elements, in which a mob of Indians beat up scores of Tibetans in McLeod Ganj, a Centre for Conflict Resolution, set up by the Tibetan community in 2001, began actively working with the Indian community in Dharamsala to minimise conflicts. Sonam Wangchuk, a trainer at the centre, says, Our aim is to limit any incident to the individuals concerned and prevent it from acquiring community overtones.
As the differences have grown, there has been an escalation of demand from within the Tibetan community for Indian citizenship. Many have begun to see India as a permanent home, and feel that if their second-class refugee status were to be replaced by full-fledged citizenship, they would not be targeted as much. Still these kinds of attacks are due to external elements motive and some weak people who are being used. Dawa Tsering, one of the most vocal supporters of this demand, says, Many more Tibetans, including many MPs, feel that full citizenship will enable us to participate politically and stand for elections. He candidly adds, Even if Tibet were to become free tomorrow, I am not sure if all of us here in Dharamsala would want to go back. Many would stay back since many are born in India and even though belong to Tibet but very much brought up with Indian land, people, food, culture and way of life
TGIE does not endorse blanket Indian citizenship for Tibetans, for the unstated reason that it would undermine the cause of a free Tibet, but many Tibetans have taken it on their own; many are also citizens of the Western countries they now live in. Faced with this situation, TGIE has set up a committee to examine the possibility of a dual citizenship of sorts for those who have taken Indian or other passports—that is, they can still be Tibetan citizens-in-exile.
Not everyone wants to be an Indian citizen. A section of the Tibetan intelligentsia, led by MP Dolma Gyari’s her own personal thought believes that refugee status provides Tibetans with a win-win situation. While many Indians are dying of malnutrition and hunger, our Tibetan community is very well-looked-after, thanks to substantial foreign aid. Once we become Indian citizens, we will lose much of that aid, and will have to fend for ourselves, says she. But some of the Tibetan feels that we are being supported since 1959 at the very essential need of that time not only of foreign aid but more of practical and greater by Indian government and all the local people who understand and feels the human to human need and support, now many Tibetan are able to sustain well and keep up to a living standard due to proper education and growth that happened in India and with Indians.
Clearly, as it enters middle age, the Tibetan community in exile is facing both new external challenges and an existentialist crisis from within but still Tibetan masses in and outside Tibet still continues their struggle for their freedom always and it was witness very clearly in 10 march 2008 Uprising day that happened in and outside Tibet.

Problems Will Not End In Your Life Time But You Can Control And Minimize It To The Minimum To Bring More Reason To Be Happy And Bring Happiness To Others And Yourself By Understanding And Working For Positive And Happiness - clear path

Seeds to understand the things in a better way to bring SMILE to you, me and everyone!

New arrivals from Tibet speak only Tibetan, tend to be aggressive and violent
Tibetan affluence, thanks to donations from the West, causes resentment among locals

It is surprising to read Dogra's article. It is sad and not so good to read! I think you went do Dharamsala to research and find out problems and complain. In fact, if you ask again to all the same person about good then you will find whole lots of good in Dharamsala and its people (both Indian and Tibetan). But with you such way of article writing gives a bad image of both the people living in Dharamsala as it is not the way you have mentioned. Newly arrived Tibetan may be of little aggressive or violent, but it is of very few people who has became that way due to suppression and so much of no freedom in Tibet. We need to see all human being as HUMAN with realizing all human qualities and bad habits before differentiating them with colors and origins. Foreign aids do come to us since we are refugee and many of our organisation receive it to implement their project which is same as in any other places where need of fund are being raised through support from developed countries aids. Progress is a natural phenomenon everywhere, which has happen to Tibetan community from road construction to a better living standard and actually sweater selling business may be generating quite a sufficient income but it is really a hard working or a big change for a Tibetan originating from a nomad or a farmer to a sweater seller.

With Dharamsala becoming a tourism hub, Indian businesses compete with Tibetan ones

With Dharamsala becoming a tourism hub, Indian business compete with Tibetan ones can be understand better as a business nature and compete is also happening within Indian to Indian and Tibetan to Tibetan. Actually competing nature always keeps business active and better. We really do not need to make it to another course.

Tibetans claim credit for Dharamsala’s development; Indians say this is their land

Tibetan claiming credit for Dharamsala’s development is a plan text as they may be feeling that they contributed to its development since many of the Tibetan in Dharamsala even though belongs to Tibet but it is their native place and they see it as their sweet home, there’s no bad in it and in reality the development of the Dharamsala has actually happened with the collective effort of everyone exist there and of course PWD of Himachal Pradesh who timely take note of the need and doing the constructive action that let us to see a development that we are discussing here. Sometimes I feel that we make our own problems because we go into it deeper and deeper not with positive but just to see problems and with negativity but if we see it in positive, we can see it positively and we can find a reason to smile and bring a better day each day to live and let live.

New arrivals allege that Indians charge exorbitant rents
Most of the newly arrived Tibetan are of course came with very less of money and property and to set up all over again in Dharamsala surely they will find it expensive not just with the rent but with the food, clothes, commodities and anything that they require. Even the local people in Dharamsala too feels that things are much expensive and high in Dharamsala but we have to walk and we have to understand it as day passes and things will surely get into understanding accordingly. This is also not at all a problem in Dharamsala and of course not between Tibetan and Indian but it is there in every developing places , town and cities.

I am sorry of any wrong English in terms of grammar or anything since it is my third language to communicate and interact.

I'm an indian&reading this column really annoyed&saddened me because all that the columnist has done is to try to build a story,having chanced upon some stray instances.One wonders if you thought, this was your story, that we all have completley missed!
As someone familiar with Dharmashala&having interacted with all the communities there,i'd suggest you do some serious research&give the shoddy,easy work,a miss.Or you have an axe to grind?You perhaps should investigate the sources of your own story.
I am aware of those stray instances that tend to happen,as much as i'm aware of similiar instances happening where i currently reside,in my own little town or when i'm in any other part of the country...for that matter even in my own family :D It's the way we all humans live.Pressures build up,tempers fly but as someone above has rightly pointed out,you would find far more instances of it within the indian or tibetan communities themselves.Please don't give it a commmunal twist for you fall for the machinations in that case.

I recognise many of my own experiences in the sharings of all the Dharmashala residents&visitors above.

Dear Tibetan,Tibetan-Indian friends&siblings,i feel with you the hurt upon reading this column.But to all of us to who it concerns,we all know better than our masqerading columnist.
This land(&i would like to think even the world)belongs to all of us who are born here,who have adopted the place or who even visit.We are all one&togehter in it.As an indian,i feel for the suffering&hardships your community has faced&faces in Tibet&do hope that in future,it will be a thing of past... and at the same time i also feel blessed&happy that you are amongst us.Our encounter like in the past has been a story of an intense,intimate,positive,ever evolving engagement.You have enrichened our beings in so many ways,jolted our memories & much more & by now,those of us who've lived close to you......it's all like being woven into a cloth/pieces of cloth.
None of us owe each other anything.We all simply are.Best wishes&love to you all*
your indian-tibetan;) friend&sibling

tse topgyal, I think you meant to write 'namak haraam' and not 'namak halaal' but that doesn't matter. I feel for you and all that you have said. You are one of us. We are joined by ancient cultural ties and of course the ties of humanity. You don't owe any of us anything. we all need to live together. Unfortunate that your forefathers were uprooted from the land of their birth. This is your land of birth. Love it as much as your forefathers loved theirs and we shall all hope for a time in the future when the land of your forefathers would also be free for you and your progeny to visit. All the best.